WASHINGTON – The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is pleased to announce the establishment of the Maurice R. Greenberg Director’s Chair at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing. The chair is made possible by the generosity of The Starr Foundation and its chairman, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg. Paul Haenle, director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center, is the inaugural holder of the Greenberg Chair.

“We are honored and humbled by Mr. Greenberg’s support and vote of confidence in Carnegie’s mission and work, and in the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center’s sustained efforts to promote policy relevant research and dialogue on the most consequential challenges to, and opportunities for, international peace,” said Penny Pritzker, chair of the Carnegie Board of Trustees.

Maurice R. Greenberg is chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Co. Inc., a worldwide insurance and investment company. He is also chairman of the Starr Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States. The Starr Companies, founded by Cornelius Vander Starr in 1919 in Shanghai, China, later created American International Group (AIG), a Starr subsidiary that Mr. Greenberg led as chairman and CEO until March 2005. Mr. Greenberg took his first trip to China in 1975 and has traveled there at least once a year since. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

“This is a key moment for U.S.-China relations, and the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center is one of the best bridges between the two nations,” Mr. Greenberg said. “The Starr Foundation has a long history of supporting deep conversations on policy and scholarly analysis in China, and we are pleased to endow this chair in recognition of the work being done by Paul Haenle and his team at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center.”

“I cannot thank Mr. Greenberg and the Starr Foundation enough for their transformational investment in Carnegie’s effort to help decisionmakers navigate this critical moment for U.S.-China relations,” said Carnegie President William J. Burns. “The Carnegie–Tsinghua Center, under Paul Haenle’s extraordinary leadership, is a model of Carnegie’s independent, global, and strategic approach.”

Haenle said: “All of us at Carnegie–Tsinghua are deeply moved and grateful. In this period, our work has never been more relevant and important. Thanks to Mr. Greenberg’s generosity, we will be able to further enhance our scholarship and dialogue efforts together with our terrific colleagues at Tsinghua University and across Carnegie’s global platform.”

Press Contact: Meshal DeSantis | +1 202 939 2233 | mdesantis@ceip.org